Overcoming Arrogance
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "They won't care Percy," I tried to convince him, "You saw the way your mother reacted and the others will take time to convince. Besides Percy, even if I try to act like I don't care about you anymore, you know that's a lie." "I can't," he repeated, heading to the door. He sounded so broken, so helpless – "Percy, please."
1. Overcoming Arrogance

Sometimes I couldn't believe the cheek of the man sitting in front of me, it was as if he had no idea how rude and hurtful his actions could be. I mean, if I used his own words, then we were on opposite sides of a battle. He had chosen the ministry over his family and I had chosen his family over the ministry. I had chosen to believe in Dumbledore, to believe in Harry, and had left my job at the ministry and he had done the very opposite. He had abandoned his family and sought out power, like I knew he would do. You couldn't be best friends with someone for almost 10 years without knowing their personality and if there was one thing I knew about Percy Weasley, it was that he ambitious – perhaps too ambitious.

But with what right was he sitting in my living room, watching me like he was waiting for me to say something?

"Get on with it Percy," I said finally, standing across from him. He was sitting on my sofa, staring silently up at me and I crossed my arms over my chest. "You came down the floo network and told me you needed to say something – so hurry up, say it and then get out of my house."

"You know," he marvelled and I struggled not to roll my eyes; we were going to be here a while. "I expected my family to act so coldly towards me but I certainly didn't expect this sort of behaviour from my best friend."

"But I'm not your best friend," I said coolly, the lie leaving my lips like it was the truth. "I stopped being your best friend the moment you abandoned your family."

He scoffed slightly, rising to his feet and crossing the distance between us. "So, Dumbledore got to you too then? Why believe the old coot's lies? Voldemort isn't back –"

"Then who killed my parents Percy?" I asked softly, looking up into his eyes. My question threw him off and he looked around the room uncomfortably. But I kept going, he needed to see some sense before it was too late. "Who killed my parents during the quidditch world cup? The death eaters rounded them up and killed them and whose orders do the death eaters act on? You saw the destruction during the world cup – Merlin, we rescued people together Percy, I cried in your arms when I received the news – and yet that's not enough proof? What about Harry seeing him with his own eyes?"

"Harry is lying," he said dismissively, still not looking me in the eyes. He cleared his throat and walked around the living room before heading to the fireplace. He looked over each of the photo frames on the fireplace and I watched his shoulders stiffen when he didn't find himself in a single one. I'd removed his photos when it got too painful to see his face every day.

"Don't insult Harry in front of me, Percy," I warned him quietly. "Hurry up and say whatever it is you came here to say before I throw you out of my home and place wards against you."

He let out a sigh, looking at me from over his shoulder. "I'm here to offer you a job."

"A job," I repeated incredulously.

"What money are you surviving on?" He asked in evident concern, turning fully to face me. "Come back to the ministry – you can't live like this for long. You need to get some stability back into your life."

"I didn't know you cared," I remarked dryly with a roll of my eyes.

"Of course, I –"

"You certainly didn't care when you'd turned your back on your family." That shut him up. "Thanks for the offer Percy – really – but I'm not interested in getting my old job back."

"It's not your old job." He straightened the tie around his neck and I wanted nothing more than to strangle him with it and shake some sense into him. "A secretarial position has been opened up – I need a secretary."

"And why exactly does the Minister's Junior Assistant need a secretary?" I looked away from him, "Besides I'm too qualified for the job."

"You shouldn't be so picky," he admonished, "You can always work up the ranks -"

"I don't want to," I declared, "I don't want to return to the ministry whilst they're trying to blind everyone from seeing the truth. Merlin, they've got the wool wrapped tightly over your eyes Perce and you don't even know it."

"I am not having this conversation with you now." He shook his head, "I trust that you're smart enough to come to the right decision yourself when the time comes. But what will it take for you to consider the job? I'm only doing this because I'm worried for you."

"What will it take?" I repeated. "How about an apology Percy?"

"An apology?" His eyes narrowed, "To who?"

"To your father for calling him an idiot? For throwing the childhood he worked so hard to give you back in his face? For not coming to see him when he was on death's doors?" I crossed my arms when I saw his expression cloud over defensively. But I couldn't back away now, instead I kept pushing. "Or how about to your mother for returning the Christmas jumper she knitted you without so much as a note to ask how she was? For slamming your door in her face when she came to your apartment to convince you to come home? Merlin's beard Percy, this is not the way they deserve to be treated for raising you with so much love."

"Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to know your parents are on the wrong path?" He threw back – what an idiot. "I am not letting them drag me down with them – do you know how much work it took to disassociate myself with the name Weasley?"

Before I knew it, my wand was in my hand, pointing straight at his chest. "Don't you dare say that again, Percy Ignatius Weasley. They are your parents and don't deserve to be spoken about in such a manner!"

"Maybe it would be better if they weren't my parents."

Silence followed his declaration and I sighed quietly, tucking my wand back in pocket. "One day Percy, your parents aren't going to be around – either because they can't be or because they turned their backs on you – and you're going to realise what a grave mistake you've made."

Realisation crossed his features, "I hadn't meant –"

I shook my head and turned my back to him before saying slowly, "Get out Percy. Until you pull your head out of the Minister's unmentionables, I'm done with you."

Moments passed where he seemed to not make any movement before I heard him pad to the fireplace. The sound of his voice was followed by the roaring flames and then there was silence.

What had happened to him? He hadn't always been like that.

* * *

Percy Weasley was my best friend, he always had been. From the moment I had lost my way during the first week of first year and he had offered to show me around, we had become easy friends. It was only because we were as close as we were, that I was allowed to see parts of him that he showed no one else – not even his family. No one tried to look past the façade of the strict head boy to see what lied beneath it. Not that he'd let them see even if they tried. He maintained the pretence that he was perfect, that nothing stressed him out but that was far from the case.

I always told him that one day or another he was going to collapse under the pressure because he kept supressing everything. The last time I'd told him that, he had been writing an essay and had scoffed, more so when I continued on to say that he needed someone he could be completely open with.

He'd looked up briefly from his essay to say, "Why would I need to find someone like that when you're there?"

With that, he turned back to his essay and I'd realised how big of a role I played in his life. The fact was cemented more the day I first saw him break down. I had been completing my rounds when I heard something from one of the unused classrooms. Clutching my wand at my side, my heart thumped in my chest as my mind reminded me that Sirius Black had tried to break into the castle. Of course _I_ would have the bad luck of running into a mass murderer during my bloody prefect's rounds.

But still, I entered the classroom and what I saw freaked me out more than possibly running into Sirius Black. With a wave of my wand I lit the entire room up, startling the boy – the man – who was busy hiding his tears.

"Percy," I said gently from the doorway of the classroom. He refused to look at me but I took tentative steps into the room anyway. "It's a stupid question to ask, but I'm going to ask you anyway; are you ok?"

"Of course I am," he replied, still not looking at me. He cleared his throat roughly and hurried to gather his papers.

I sighed and closed the distance between us. He tried to hurry his movements, stilling completely when I set a hand on his arm. The papers shook in his hold. Reaching out to gently take the papers from him, I set them back on the table and took his hands in mine. Sitting next to him, I sat in silence, holding his hands and waiting for the shaking of his hands to stop. He kept his head bowed towards our connected hands and I waited patiently until the shaking stopped.

Removing one of my hands from his, I ran it through his hair comfortingly. He looked up at the gesture and I frowned at the trail from his tears that he hadn't managed to erase. My hand dropped from his head to wipe it away.

"Is everything alright at home?" I asked cautiously.

He nodded, "Everything's fine at home." He was telling the truth.

"Then what," my voice trailed off as my eyes settled on the papers he'd been so focused on, or rather at the grade written across the top of the paper. "Oh Perce."

"Don't pity me," he snapped, ripping his hand from mine and snatching the papers back again. He shoved them into his bag. "It's just a grade – I'll get it up again."

"I don't pity you Percy," I said softly, "I'm worried about you. I thought you stopped doing this; the sleepless nights, the bottling emotions up."

"It's none of your business," he threw back, faltering when he made eye contact with me.

"I care about you Percy." I reached out to take his hand again, "Merlin, you know that."

"And, so what?"

"So I can't help you until you tell me why you do this?" I rubbed my thumb against the back of his hand, "Why chase after perfection so much? Losing sleep over perfect grades isn't worth it. Not getting straight Os isn't the end of the world."

"It is to me." He took his hand out of mine and rubbed both of his hands over his face. "This is who I am – it's my character. I get the perfect grades."

"You don't need to prioritise it over your health," I tried to convince him.

"You of all people know how large my family is and this is how I get noticed."

"Your parents will love you regardless Percy."

He nodded, meeting my eyes with a self-deprecating smile, "I know that but I can't blend into the background and become just another Weasley brother. I'm not adventurous like Bill or Charlie, I'm not as funny as the twins, as likeable as Ron. I'm nothing like them - this is what I am."

"Percy-"

He put his hand on top of mine and gave it a squeeze, "And I'm ok with that, really I am."

"You're a terrible liar," I pointed out. "You were crying when I walked into the room – don't try and deny it. But you're a Weasley, through and through, you're not going to let me stop you."

"You're right," he said with a real smile and I rolled my eyes.

"But don't let the pressure get too much for you Percy, seek me out when you need help and I'll always be free to give you a listening ear."

He was doubtful. "Really? You're being serious?

I nodded, completely serious. "As serious as I can be."

Percy took me up on my offer. He sought me out whenever he needed to talk, when the pressure of being perfect got too much for him and just like I'd told him I would, I lent him a listening ear. We'd talk for hours on end and then when we'd go our separate ways, I could see that the tension had physically eased out of his body.

He'd left Hogwarts with perfect grades and he'd pulled me into a tight hug in the middle of the great hall. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he lifted me off of the ground slightly and thanked me repeatedly. For what, I had no idea though.

How was I to know that it would take a few years out of Hogwarts to change him so much? If I had been around him more often, maybe I would have seen it happening –

The more important thing right now was getting Percy Weasley back to the way he really was. But how?

* * *

Christmas returned to the burrow and with it came the entire Weasley family – almost. No one brought up the absent Weasley brother lest they set Mrs Weasley off on another round of tears. Instead everyone tried to make the occasion as happy as they could. Mrs Weasley was at the kitchen, thriving in the presence of her family and no one wanted to see that wrecked. I was in the kitchen, working alongside her, under her supervision.

I hadn't felt as lonely in the burrow as I did today.

I shook the thought away and instead focused on the task I had been assigned. Once Molly had given her nod of approval, I took the pan off from the cooker and set it aside. She continued to bustle around the kitchen and asked me to start moving the food to the table from over her shoulder. I did as asked and started by moving enough plates and cutlery to the table. Struggling slightly to see past the stack of plates in my hand, I smiled gratefully at Charlie who came to my side to take the plates from me.

He carried them to the table for me and I followed after him with the cutlery. We started to set the table in a gentle silence when the sound of the fireplace made me look up just in time to see the two men step out of the fireplace. We all stared in silence at the two men in front of us.

"Percy," I said quietly, in shock as he looked awkwardly around the room, unable to meet anyone's eyes. The minister of magic stood by his side and I couldn't help but glare at Scrimgeour – so he hadn't changed his mind yet.

Molly, hearing the name slip passed my lips, rushed out of the kitchen. She stood rooted in shock at the entrance to the room as she stared at her son with unshed tears in her eyes. Percy looked uncomfortable under the stare of his mother but said nothing as Molly rushed forward to take him into her arms. No one else made a move to acknowledge Percy or the minister who was too busy looking around the room. Percy returned his mother's embrace awkwardly.

When she released her son from her hold, Molly stood by his side, refusing to step away from him.

"Minister," Mr Weasley finally greeted the other man as he approached the two men. He made no move to greet his son.

I blocked out the following conversation when Percy's eyes landed on me, his eyebrows rising slightly. He held my stare and I looked away from him, adamant that I was going to keep the promise I made to myself, as I headed back into the kitchen. I continued to move the rest of the food to the table, ignoring the conversation going on around me. It was obvious that Percy didn't come to burrow out of his own choice – he'd been forced here because of whatever business the Minister had here.

That was enough to get my blood boiling.

Just as I went to set the plate of Yorkshire pudding's on the table, I heard the minister request to talk to Harry alone. I paused mid movement and looked over at Harry – it was obvious that he wanted to do no such thing. But he was convinced and he followed Scrimgeour out into the garden.

The man was here to spy on Harry – on Dumbledore - and he'd used Percy as an excuse. Or was Percy spying as well. The though startled me so much that I almost dropped the plate I was holding. Arms appeared out of nowhere and caught the plate before it had fallen. I looked up into the face of the Yorkshire pudding saviour, my thankful words dying on my lips as I met Percy's eyes.

He put the plate on the table and I turned to head back into the kitchen, just as I heard Molly announce that Percy was going to be staying for Christmas dinner – alongside the minister – and to set out two more plates. Once all the food had been placed on the table, I approached the table and noted just how awkward it was.

I couldn't stop myself, really, I couldn't and so as I went around the table to where Percy was sitting, I took a hold of his wrist. He looked up at me in surprise but rose to his feet when I tugged on his arm and silently ordered him to follow me. Leading him up the stairs to the second floor, I entered his old room and once I'd shut the door behind me, I let go of his wrist.

I walked away from him, heading for the window to look out of it. From here I could see Harry talking to the Minister as they made their way around the garden. Percy waited in silence, knowing that I'd brought him up here for a reason.

Turning back to him with a sigh, I crossed my arms and levelled him a look. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He looked away from me, defensively crossing his arms over his chest. "I should have thought that was obvious."

Uncrossing my arms, I made my way towards him. "Let me rephrase myself; what are you doing here on Christmas day? You're only going to leave again once Scrimgeour is finished with his spying and you'll never see how much it wrecks your mother. Even you, Percy Weasley, can't be heartless enough to do that."

"The sooner Harry agrees to support the Ministry, the sooner we can leave," was all he said.

I let out a breath of disbelief. "Merlin Percy, surely with all that's going on, you still don't believe the ministry."

"Of course I do."

That was what he tried to say but it was all there, clear as day. He didn't believe in the Ministry, not anymore. He'd never quite managed to hide his facial expressions from me.

"Oh Perce," I sighed gently, dropping my act of being on the offensive. "What's going on? I know you well enough to know that you're lying to me and to yourself – you know the truth. You know the side you should be on."

"I can't," he protested weakly. "I can't face them after accusing them. How am I supposed to face them?"

"They won't care Percy," I tried to convince him, "You saw the way your mother reacted and the others will take time to convince. Besides Percy, even if I try to act like I don't care about you anymore, you know that's a lie."

"I can't," he repeated, heading to the door. He sounded so broken, so helpless –

"Percy, please."

He said nothing else as he walked out of the door, leaving me standing alone in his old room. That was the last I saw of him until the battle of Hogwarts.

* * *

One thing that I could never forgive Snape for was his brutality against the students that had been left under his care. Sure, he was acting as a double agent for the order but there was no need for him to act out against his students. Students that I was currently working to heal in the sanctuary of the room of requirement. The DA had called the members of the order in and we had arrived at Hogwarts as soon as we could. I had set about healing the injured students, of which there were many, whilst the rest of the order sorted out a plan.

The portrait guarding the hidden passageway opened once again and all eyes snapped towards the portrait, or rather the man that walked through it. I glanced up briefly before looking back to the student whose arm I was busy bandaging up. My shoulders stiffened; surely my eyes had deceived me? Risking another glance at the man, the tension ebbed out of me.

Tying the bandage quickly, I rose to my feet and stared at the man who stepped cautiously out from the portrait hole and into the room of requirement. "Percy."

As if he was able to hear my voice above all the noise in the room, his eyes met mine. Closing the distance between us, he weaved between the students and came to a stop in front of me. He looked around the room, not yet able to face me properly as he floundered for what to say.

"It's alright Percy," I said gently, realising that he was struggling for words.

He met my eyes then, swallowing thickly. "You were right all along."

I smiled slowly, my voice teasing as I tried to get him to relax a little, "It must be torture for you to admit that."

He gave me a small smile. "I'm sorry it took me so long."

"It's alright," I reassured him again.

His eyes drifted over my shoulder and I turned to see what he was looking at. He was watching his family who were busy watching him to see what he would do. His shoulders tensed up and I just knew that he was struggling again for something to say. Placing a hand on his back, between his shoulder blades, I caught his attention. Looking back down at me, Percy's eyes searched mine as the tension eased out of him.

"Go and talk to them Percy," I said encouragingly, "Apologise and everything will be fine."

"I can't," he protested quietly. "I can't do it alone, come with me."

"I'm sorry Percy but this is something only you can do." I shrugged, "Besides, the order's come up with a plan and I need to go to my station."

He took my hand in his, surprising me. "But there's something else I need to talk to you about."

"Later," I assured, putting my free hand on top of his. "We can talk later. Right now you need to go and talk to your family."

And it seemed like it would definitely have to be later as the entire castle was plunged into battle. I was stationed at the front of the castle alongside Professor McGonagall as we erected the wards surrounding the castle. We knew that they weren't going to keep the death eaters out permanently but they'd buy us the time we needed. Clenching my fingers tightly around my wand I held it at my side as the death eaters started their assault against the wards.

Any moment now.

True to my prediction the ward fell only seconds later and the death eaters charged at the castle. I raised my wand and aimed it at the archway that the death eaters would have to pass through to get towards us. I had to time it perfectly.

"Confringo!"

The stone archway exploded as the spell hit it, sending the rubble onto the crowd of death eaters below. My heart beat madly in my chest; it didn't seem to dissuade the death eaters. In fact, they climbed over the rubble and continued to advance the castle.

There was no time to rest as I found myself duelling countless death eaters who were willing to use more deadly curses than I was and they were using them often. Casting a shield in front of me to block the angry red spell that was flying towards me, I paid no attention to what was happening behind me. Perhaps I should have.

If I had, then maybe I would have been able to block the spell that hit me straight in the centre of my back. I crumbled to the floor with a strangled gasp, eyes closing despite my struggle to keep them open.

Later would have to wait.

* * *

When my eyes opened again, it was because I was so uncomfortable.

Looking straight ahead, I stared at the familiar ceiling of the Hogwarts hospital wing. What was I doing here? The last I remembered, I was fighting against a death eater when I struck in the back … by a spell –

This wasn't the time to be lying around, there was a war going on. One that would affect every aspect of my life. I went to get up, stopping mid action when I couldn't move one of my hands. Looking down at the hand, I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw that someone was holding it and a head of red hair was currently sleeping against those hands.

Trying to slip my hand out without waking the person, I failed miserably. They stirred at my movements and sat up so quickly that I was surprised that he didn't get whiplash. Percy looked down at me with wide eyes.

"You're awake," he breathed out in disbelief.

"Of course I am," I said with furrowed eyebrows. "How long was I asleep for?"

"Almost 24 hours," he replied, taking the hand he was still holding between both of his.

My mouth parted in shock, "Almost 24 hours, then that means – what happened Percy? Did Harry-"

"We won," he assured me with a big smile, but I could tell from his voice that he was still not able to believe it. "Harry finished Voldemort off and he's never coming back."

"Merlin that's the best news I could ever hear." I pressed my head back against the pillow and looked contemplatively away from him. "What's the damage? Is it serious?"

He pressed a kiss to the back of my hand, "It's not – you need to take a potion for the next month but after that you'll be fine. I would call Madame Pomfrey but she'd currently adding to the list of the … of the dead."

I let out a sharp breath. Every war had casualties but it was still so completely shocking.

"And this list," I started cautiously, almost not wanting an answer to the question I was going to ask. Looking back at him, I swallowed dryly; I was parched.

Realising the fact, Percy summoned a cup and muttered a quiet 'Aguamenti' before propping me up so I could drink from the cup. Once I was finished, I sat up against the back of the bed. I looked down at the bed beneath me, tracing random patterns as I tried to summon up the courage to ask my question. I felt him take my hand in his and give it a reassuring squeeze.

"Percy, on the list, is there anyone that-"

The doors slammed open, the man striding into the hospital wing catching our attention.

"Percy," Fred said loudly, paying no mind to the other patients in the room as he strode towards the bed I was in. "You haven't left her side since the battle ended – Mum said for you to go home and shower or something, I'll stay with her."

His voice trailed off when he saw that I was very much awake.

"Fred," I greeted with a smile, eyes clouding over with concern when I took in the arm that was still in a sling. "What happened?"

"This old thing?" He gestured to his arm as George walked into the hospital wing and came to a stop at his brother's side. "I got it when Percy tackled me."

"You tackled him?" I looked back to the Weasley that was still sitting by my side.

"With good reason," George added, "If he hadn't then this idiot would've been crushed by a wall."

"I never thought I'd owe my life to Percy," Fred remarked, triggering an eye roll from his older brother.

"Is everyone else alright?" I realised that Percy hadn't had the chance to answer my question.

"Everyone's fine. We're all alive, a little scratched up but alive." George threw an arm over Fred's shoulder and started to pull him in the direction of the doors. "Now, I'm going to take the hint that Percy's been giving us leave the two of you alone."

"Call for Madame Pomfrey whilst you're at it," Percy called out to his younger brothers.

Once the twins had left the room, I back towards him. "Percy?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about," he explained.

I shuffled on the bed, fixing the pillow behind me in an attempt to get comfortable. He stood up quickly, arms coming around on either side of me to fix the pillow behind me. Once he was finished, I leaned back against the pillows but he didn't move away. Instead, he pressed closer.

"Perce –"

His lips smothered my words. I stayed unresponsive against him, mind running wild as I tried to figure out what was going on, only for it to switch off seconds later when he pushed even closer. Fisting the bedsheet beneath me, I returned his kiss


	2. Epilogue

_5 YEARS LATER_

I eyed the man sitting across the table from me in disdain. Percy, feeling the weight of my glare, folded the corner of the newspaper he had been reading down so he could look at me. At the sight of my glare, he simply raised an eyebrow. He returned back to his newspaper, turning the page and the childish part of my wanted to stick my tongue out at him. Instead I huffed, pushing my scrambled eggs around my plate.

"You can huff all you want," he remarked from behind the newspaper, "But I'm not going to change my mind."

"You say that now, but I can get you to change your mind." I straightened up in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Oh, really?" He closed the newspaper, folding it and putting it on the table beside him.

"Really." I nodded, meeting his eyes straight on. "I always have been able to."

"Then you're welcome to try, love." The corner of his lips tugged upwards in amusement.

I narrowed my eyes at the action but made no comment about it. My mind was already busy with trying to work out how to get him to agree with me and end this madness. Firstly, Percy was a creature of logic and that meant that if I convinced him by presenting him with the facts then he was likely to change his mind. But then again, he was a proud Weasley – and Weasleys were very stubborn. He wouldn't change his mind just because he knew it would prove that I was right.

Although –

There was another power of sorts, that I realised I had over him. Only a few months into our relationship I realised that I held a great deal of power over him if I said something in the right way or if I did something in the right way. A creature of logic, he might have been, but he was still a man.

So if logic didn't work, then I'd just have to seduce him.

Simple.

"What you're doing isn't healthy Percy?" I insisted, rising from my seat and approaching him. I walked around the side of the table, coming to a stop beside his chair. He looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. "I mean it – working all day, every day isn't healthy and it's got to the point where even Kingsley wants you to take some time off."

"But I don't want to take time off." He wasn't budging.

"Percy, the minister of magic, is telling you take some time off – why don't you listen to him?" I played with the hair at the back of his neck, trying to get him to yield. "Besides it's not like you'll be out of work for a long time – it'll be a week at most."

"There's that," he admitted, "But I've got work to do – how's that going to get done?"

"The same way work gets done when other people take time off from work," I insisted. Realising that he wasn't going to give in, I perched on the edge of the table. The action brought me further into his space.

He had admitted to me before that being close to me made him want to touch me, he'd said something about the physical contact removing any tension he had. Apparently, it had started during our time in Hogwarts and had continued ever since. Sure enough, just like I thought he would, he reached out to take my hand in his and played with my fingers.

He tilted his head back slightly to lessen the strain on his neck as he looked up at me. "Still-"

"Still nothing." I interlinked out fingers, "Think about it Percy, I've already taken a week off from work and if you get the same week off then we can lounge around the house or go travelling. It'll be fun and will help to ease at least part of the tension you're carrying with you?" Straightening up, I moved towards him and perched on the arm rests of the chair. He set a hand on my thigh, listening to me as I ran a hand through his hair. I'd have to pull out the emotion card. " _Please,_ Percy, I'm worried about you. You'll run yourself ragged one day and something will happen to you. What's going to happen to me then?"

He contemplated my words, tracing a random pattern on my thigh before he said, "Nothing, nothing would happen to you."

I rolled my eyes; stubborn male.

There was a tapping on the window that was easily recognised as belonging to an owl. He rose to his feet and headed towards the window, leaving me sat where I was. I had been so close. It would have taken just a few more well thought out sentences and he would have played right into my hands.

Opening the window, he let the owl into the apartment and I recognised it as a ministry owl. Great, that was just what he needed – more work. He hadn't even opened the letter when the owl had flown back out of the window. Turning to walk back to the table, he started to read through the letter and had finished it by the time he returned to the table. Sitting back in his previous seat, he held out the letter for me to take.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked, looking up at me.

"No?" I furrowed my eyebrows and took the letter from his outstretched hand. "Is there?"

"You tell me."

I only needed to read through the first sentence of the letter for comprehension to dawn on me. Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I continued to read through the letter anyway. I folded the letter in half and placed it on the table, beside the newspaper before looking back at Percy.

"So?"

"There might have been something," I started slowly.

"I thought there might." He struggled to hide a smile.

"So, I talked to Kingsley – or rather I vented at Kingsley and I'd forgotten for a moment that he was the minister."

"Did you now?"

I nodded, "Really it did, I was just so focused on ranting about the fact that my husband spends more time with his paperwork then he does with me and I guess this is what he's decided to do."

Reaching out to take a hold of my hand, he pulled me gently towards him until I was seated on his lap. I looked cautiously up at him. "The minister's forcing me to take a week off from work."

"I know and –"

"Do you know why I've been so work obsessed for the past few months?" He played with a stray strand of my hair. "I overheard you talking to Fleur one day about having kids – and I want that too. I really want that to happen for us. And when it does happen, I want to be able to give them everything."

"Percy," I sighed, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him into a hug. "Forget about money, you can raise children with all the money in the word but if they never see you then what's the point? When they get older they'll always pick love over the material objects Percy. So, stop worrying about that, please." I dropped a kiss to his lips. "Promise me that?"

"Fine." He pressed his forehead to mine. "I promise."

"Now would you be mad if I told you that I've arranged for a portkey to Venice?"

He chuckled, "Venice, _again_?"

I nodded, smiling sheepishly. "I even booked the hotel we stayed in last time."

Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to my nose before asking, "For our honeymoon?"

I nodded, "Is that a problem? Because even if it is, I don't care – I'm going to force you to go."


End file.
